He smiled as he checked his own response.
He’d no flutter in his chest, just the steady thump of his heart.
His whole body, however, was attuned—receptive of her signals, aware of her every breath. Without deep deliberation, he knew he’d made a momentous decision.
He wanted this—he wanted her—to stay with him.
And not just now, but every day.
He wanted her softness when he was ruffled. Her kindness when he was hurt.
But was that fair? Especially when she’d told him she was considering another man’s offer?
“Have you decided what answer to give the man who proposed?” He wet his lips before rephrasing his question. “Eliza, does your heart truly belong to another?”
“No,” she sighed. “Not yet.”
“Then may I—”
She put her hand against his lips.
He’d thought she’d meant to prevent him from declaring himself. Her wide eyes, however, weren’t fixed on him, but on the entry. Finally, he heard the sound that had made her expression taut. Voices from the other room.
Voices drawing closer.
He stepped back into the light, and drew her to his side, looping his arm firmly through hers. She followed his gaze up, as if they had been, all this while, studying a small sculpture set into an arched niche.
A couple, guided by another professor, walked straight through to the far end of the room. None of the three people in the party appeared to have noticed them.
She sighed. He, on the other hand, was not so relieved.
He’d recognized the couple.
“If you don’t wish your sister to be exposed to a scene, we should find her—and Harbury—straight away.”
“Why?”
“Because,” he said darkly, “the couple who just passed through this gallery were Lord and Lady Pennington.”
“Pennington,” she repeated. “You meanthatPennington?”
“Yes,” he replied, snatching up her hand. “ThatPennington. Though I’m not in the habit of gossip, especially where a good friend is concerned,” he explained as he led her from the room to room in an increasingly desperate search, “it is in your sister’s best interest to know Harbury is prone to theatrical demonstrations where Lady Pennington is concerned.”
“Do you mean to tell me Harbury is in love with Lady Pennington?”
“No,” Adrian glanced over his shoulder. “But he’ll argue the contrary, if given the chance.”
She halted abruptly. “She was there—Lady Pennington—that night at Almack’s.”
“Yes. As he told me later, he required a distraction.”
“He dragged my sister into scandal just to pique Lady Pennington?”
“No.” Adrian winced. “He used your sister to keep himself from having to experience the full force of his jealousy, more like.” He inhaled sharply. “Self-indulgence at its worst. Or so I’ve recently been reminded.”
“Oh,” she said softly. Her expression changed. “Oh, no! I have reason to believe Cassie is becoming…fond of the duke.”
“Heaven help her,” he said under his breath.
“We must find them!” She took the lead.
We.He liked the sound of that word.
